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Authorities in Las Vegas held a press conference Friday afternoon with an update on the Tesla Cybertruck explosion which happened at a Trump hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day.
FBI special agent Spencer Evans said there was no evidence that the incident was connected to the Islamic terror attack which occurred the same day in New Orleans.
Instead, the FBI said Matthew Livelsberger, 37, a highly decorated U.S. Army Green Beret from Colorado Springs, Colorado, appeared to be suffering from PTSD and committed the horrific act as a suicide mission. He had served in the Army for 19 years.
Livelsberger rented the Cybertruck in Denver, loaded it with explosives, then drove it to Las Vegas, arriving there early Wednesday morning. He pulled up in front of the hotel, detonated the explosives and shot himself in the head.
Below is an excerpt from a report by NBC News: Clark County/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said investigators were able to access one of two phones found in the Cybertruck, and viewed writing in an app that served almost as a journal, documenting some of Matthew Alan Livelsberger’s movements and state of mind from Dec. 21 to New Year’s Eve.
Two letters in the phone app appear to point to a motive in the blast, Koren said. In one letter, he tells “fellow service members, veterans and all Americans” it’s time to “wake up” because the country’s leadership is “weak” and “only serves to enrich themselves.”
A second letter appeared to shed more light Livelsberger’s thinking.
“We are the United States of America, the best country … to ever exist, but right now, we are terminally ill and headed towards collapse,” a second letter said. “This was not a terrorist attack. It was a wake up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives. … I need to cleanse my mind of the brothers I’ve lost, and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.”
The FBI said Livelsberger also wrote about other issues he was dealing with or upset about, including personal challenges, domestic and family issues and societal issues.
Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said they have not been able to access the data on the second phone they recovered from the truck. Officials said in the press conference that they still have a lot of data to review.
JUST IN: Las Vegas metro police announces it has obtained two letters that appear to belong to Las Vegas bomber Matthew Livelsberger.
The FBI also says there is strong evidence that the Las Vegas bomber’s “manifesto” uncovered by Shawn Ryan is authentic.pic.twitter.com/mLBzhEXvGH
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) January 3, 2025
According to reports by the New York Post, Livelsberger was first married to Sara Livelsberger, but they divorced in 2018. A former neighbor described them as “polar opposites.” Sara was a registered Democrat who supported Bernie Sanders, while Matthew supported Donald Trump.
Livelsberger later married Jennifer Davis in 2022, and they have a baby daughter together. He had recently returned home from an overseas Army assignment in Germany, and was on approved leave.
However, the Post reported that the second wife recently accused him of cheating on her and Livelsberger left their home in Colorado Springs the day after Christmas. He then rented the Cybertruck through the Turo app, and drove it to Las Vegas.
Fox News also reported on an interview with an ex-girlfriend, Alicia Arritt, who Livelsberger had dated between his two marriages, from 2018 to 2021. She described him as “the kindest man I ever knew.” Fox wrote:
Arritt described Livelsberger as an honorable man who loved his country and that she knew him to be politically conservative. Livelsberger’s family has reportedly described him as a supporter of Trump.
She also said Livelsberger had two surgeries on his back after serving as a paratrooper. She said she noticed a change in him in 2019 after he returned from a tour in the Middle East with a traumatic brain injury. She said Livelsberger became isolated, explaining to the newspaper she thinks his depressive symptoms went untreated because “it’s not acceptable to seek treatment when someone is in Special Forces.”
Watch the full press briefing below:
Livelsberger had posted the following photo on his Facebook page in September.
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